Satine's Lily
by Diamonte-saber
Summary: two years later Christian continues to mourn the death of Satine. On one of his saddest nights Zidler tells him a secret about Satine that will change his life, forever...
1. Satine's Lily

Plot: Two years after her death Christian is still mourning for Satine. One night Zidler turns up and reveals a secret he had kept for five years.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for one they all belong to the people who made them up.  
  
  
  
Satine's Lily  
  
  
  
Christian sat alone. Alone. He had never felt alone before, her. Now loneliness filled his days and nights with restlessness and despair. The bad memories filled him with regret and the good ones made the hurting worse. He could barely remember her laugh or the smell of her perfume all he remembered was that she had the sweetest voice he had ever heard and that he loved her. For two long years now he had sat in a dazed drunkenness that kept him from going insane.  
  
Oh but her voice how he longed, he pined to here her sing just once more and hold her in his arms just for one moment and tell her.  
  
and tell her he loved her just one more time. But she was dead. Gone forever, never to be seen again, like a shooting star that zooms brightly across the sky for a split second and then disappears and just the memory of it makes you want to see it again. Just like Satine.  
  
He had visited her grave. It was the only place he could bare to leave his home for. It was in a beautiful place, beside a river. On clear nights the stars reflected in the water. Like sparkling diamonds.  
  
Tonight Christian sat alone. Toulouse his midget friend had grown tired of trying to cheer him up, after Satine died Christian had grown bitter and no longer was good company for the idealistic Bohemian. Occasionally Toulouse came by; he talked to Christian of "vanderfull" ideas he had for a new play. Tonight Christian sat alone.  
  
He swigged at his fifth bottle of absinthe and stared out the window. He felt like a tired old man in a young man's body. He felt weak and lifeless, his eyes were no longer wide open and eager to see the world, they were tired looking eyes, stained red and surrounded by dark eye-bags. His gaze was fixed on Moulin Rouge where it had all began, on the elephant where she had first said loved him. Christian sighed and slowly closed his eyes.  
  
"One day I'll fly away"  
  
His eyes opened for a moment and then closed again.  
  
"Leave all this to yesterday  
  
What more could your love do for me  
  
When will love be through with me  
  
Why live life from dream to dream.  
  
"Christian?" a voice said  
  
Christian turned over in his sleep.  
  
"Christian?" the voice said again, it was strangely familiar  
  
"Satine?" he murmured  
  
Strong hands shook him and he awoke a well-built man with an orange colored beard and goatee stood before him.  
  
"Zidler?" Christian had not seen Harold Zidler in years. After the death of Satine the Moulin Rouge had stayed as a theatre but was never quite as successful as it had been as a nightclub. Christian had noticed how it didn't have the same zing as it used to. There were not as many crowds that lined the streets, not as much glorious noise.  
  
"Hello Christian" Zidler said grimly  
  
"Hello Zidler, um what are you doing here?" Christian asked  
  
"Is everything alright? Is Marie okay?"  
  
"Yes Christian, Marie is fine, and so am I. But there is something I thought I should tell you" Zidler said his voice low and gruff.  
  
"The Moulin Rouge is not doing so well" he coughed " We are in a bit of debt, so we are selling it"  
  
This was no surprise to Christian the Moulin Rouge had always been a high maintenance attraction.  
  
"We're moving away to start again on a new nightclub somewhere far away but there are various matters keeping us here" he coughed again  
  
" What matters Zidler?" Christian asked  
  
The old man couldn't keep it in any longer he blurted it out  
  
"Christian before she met you, Satine had a daughter"  
  
The news hit Christian like a fainting Argentinean.  
  
"What?" he said not believing what he had just heard.  
  
Why hadn't she told him?  
  
"Christian" Zidler said seeing the look on his face  
  
"She didn't know"  
  
"How could she not know that she had had a child?" Christian shouted, loosing composure.  
  
Harold looked down at the floor, ashamed.  
  
" We told her it had, it had died" he coughed again, Christian could see that it wasn't easy for him to say this and wasn't about to make it any easier, his heart hardened.  
  
"YOU WHAT?" he shouted  
  
"Christian" Zidler said stammering to explain " She was our star, it wasn't a child she wanted. It was to be famous, a famous actress. We thought at the time that we were helping her along, Christian I know it was a stupid thing to do."  
  
"YOUR DAMN RIGHT IT WAS A STUPID THING TO DO!" Christian shouted enraged  
  
"Christian" Zidler said trying to calm him down" Christian we told her, that night she died, we told her, she met her child, Christian?" Christian sat weeping on the floor  
  
"Why are you TELLING ME THIS?"  
  
"Christian, the truth is we don't have a lot of money. To start up a new nightclub we need all the money we can get. We need you to take the girl." He paused to see Christian's reaction. Christian stopped crying and sat in shock.  
  
"Just for a little while"  
  
"At least until we're ready to take her again" Zidler said.  
  
"Yes" Christian said, he would love the girl as his own  
  
Now it was Zidler's turn to be surprised but he quickly recovered with a shake of his head, he smiled.  
  
" Her name is Lily, she is five years old now, I'll bring her here tomorrow. Maybe you should use that time to clean up," he said glancing around the apartment 


	2. Dreaming begins again

Dreaming begins again  
  
Christian awoke late he glanced out his widow. The sun shone brightly into his eyes, he groaned. What was that? A little bird fluttered on his windowsill twittering away. He smiled, Satine used to have a bird like that. Satine?! Oh no! He had completely forgotten! Lily, Satine's daughter was coming! Today! He ran like around like a whirlwind through the small apartment picking up old bottles of half finished absinthe and scrunched up pieces of paper. He hadn't noticed how neglected everything had been, there was junk everywhere. He came across an old photo wrapped in yellow paper, he slowly unwrapped it. It was.it was Satine. Oh! She was beautiful he remembered this photo, Harold Zidler had given it to him after she died for comfort. He had lost it one night and he had been miserable ever since. Now he rejoiced for finding it again!  
  
What a beautiful day! He had never noticed the sky so blue. He decided it was time to go out into the world again. He would go to the market and find a frame for the photograph. Harold was coming with Lily later that day but there where plenty of things to do before then. He wiped the dust off his old mirror  
  
AHHHhh! What two years could do to a person. It appeared that his apartment wasn't the only thing that needed a cleaning up. A good haircut and a shave was required.  
  
His first stop was to the barber. The barber greeted him with a polite nod and asked what haircut he would like, Christian looked in the mirror and thought of what he used to look like, he remembered it looked quite good. It was better to be safe with what was familiar. He described it to the barber, the barber whose name was Bernard nodded, he understood. Bernard was a happy man and a talkative one; he loved finding out a little something about each and every one of his customers. He tried to start a conversation.  
  
"So, it's been a while since you've had a haircut, no?" he asked  
  
"Um yeah that's right, oh, what, it must be two years now" Christian answered  
  
"Ai! What have you been doing that was so time consuming?"  
  
"Well, mourning actually" Christian answered, not rudely but with realization of how much time had passed  
  
"Oh " Bernard said, sorry he'd asked  
  
"No, no that's fine," Christian said trying to reassure him that it was okay, but Bernard was shaken and decided to concentrate on cutting hair. They sat and without talking for the rest of the time, with only the snippety snippet sound of the scissors to break the silence.  
  
Christian walked out of the barber shop feeling refreshed his face was cleared of it's raggedy beard and moustache and his head felt clean, he was on the way to being his old self again. He knew, though that he would never be quite the same because through the pain of the last two years he had gained a great deal of knowledge. He used to think the world was perfect now he knew there was a dark side. He used to think that love conquered all but know he knew that in most cases hate was more powerful. He used to think he was poor because he was penny-less now he looked back at himself and discovered he had been rich with friends and happiness, and most importantly love. His love to Satine would last forever and he would miss her for the rest of his time on earth but Lily Satine's daughter had seemed to get him back on the right track. Like a message from Satine not to despair any longer. Yes, Christian thought. Today is the day dreaming begins again. 


	3. Daddy

Daddy  
  
Christian returned to the apartment with many new things, most noticeably his haircut, but also a beautiful picture frame. He'd bought it from an old antique store in the market; he had seen something glint from the corner of his eye, and gone into the store to investigate. The store was mainly filled with old chairs, dusty and worn. He had noticed it sitting on one of them. It didn't have a label, and when Christian asked the storeowner about it he said he didn't know anything about it or the cost so he sold it to Christian for a reasonable price.  
  
It really was a beautiful piece. It was silver and quite ornate it had the molding of a moon surrounded by stars on the frame, and as Christian placed it onto the shelf he began to really appreciate it. Of course the fact that it now had Satine's photo in it made him want to look at it all the more.  
  
Christian was very nervous about Lily. He had never looked after children before and wasn't sure how to act around them. Questions kept entering his mind What if she didn't like him? What would she look like? Would she look like Satine? Would she know about her mother? What if she asked him about her? For the first time in his life he realized he had neck muscles and at the moment they were very tense.  
  
He glanced around at his apartment nervously, yes; yes it was all clean. He looked down to the floor where a small pile of toys sat ready for his little guest. He looked up at the photo of Satine. What would she want him to do? He knew, she would tell him to sit tight and that everything would be okay and. he smiled he could almost hear her voice  
  
"Christian! Don't worry so much," she would say, laughing and then giving him a stunningly mischievous smile.  
  
" I mean she's my daughter, how bad can she be?"  
  
Christian laughed, good old Satine.  
  
"Knock- Kno-ock" the sing-songy voice of Harold Zidler called  
  
"Christian? Christian! We're here!"  
  
Yikes! She was here! Ohhhhhhhhhhh.JOY!!! Christian jumped up from his seat and hurried over to the door. He closed his eyes and just breathed for a moment. Okay he was ready. Slowly, ever so slowly he opened the door. Harold Zidler's comical face stared at him inquisitively,  
  
"I hope this arrangement is all right with you Christian?" he said  
  
" Yes, yes it's fine" Christian said trying to peer over the stocky man's shoulder.  
  
"Alright then" Harold said to him  
  
"May I present" he giggled  
  
"Miss LILY, ANABELLE, ZIDLER!"  
  
It was like a dream that went in slow motion.  
  
"Tada!" A voice cried as a little girl jumped out from behind Zidler's back throwing her arms up in the air. Christian gasped.  
  
"Well I'll be going, the train awaits!' Zidler exclaimed  
  
"No, no, no!" Christian said  
  
"You are welcome to come in," Christian said scared of being alone with Lily  
  
"Sorry Christian" Zidler said handing him a letter  
  
" This explains a bit more of the whole thing, I really have to go!" he bent down, and spoke to Lily softly, he was struggling to fight back tears, he had looked after her for the first five years of her life.  
  
"Now you be a good girl for Daddy-Christian okay?" he said hugging her  
  
"Remember what I said before? I will come back to visit you but Christian here is going to look after you for awhile" he gulped  
  
"Okay?"  
  
"Okay Pa," she threw her arms around his neck and whispered  
  
" I love you Pa"  
  
Zidler pulled from his pocket a ridiculously large handkerchief and blew his nose.  
  
"Well I'll be off then Christian, um read the letter." And with that he left looking over his shoulder once to give a little wave to Lily. Then it was just the two of them.  
  
Christian gestured to Lily to go inside the apartment. Gosh! Christian thought, What am I supposed to do? He bent down to her level  
  
"Well, um hello.Lily"  
  
"Hello Daddy"  
  
Daddy!  
  
1 Christian smiled.  
  
"I bought you some toys from the market if you'd like to play with them, you can"  
  
"Okay" she said and smiled  
  
Christian took a moment to study her  
  
(*if you're hoping she looks like a mini Satine please don't flame me)  
  
One thing was certain, she was not, as he had possibly hoped, a mini Satine.  
  
She was small, she was five so of course she was small but to Christian she seemed small. She had light brown hair with a red tinge and a cute little fringe. Her eyes were greeny-blue and she had a small nose with a band of freckles across it.  
  
Her mouth, her mouth was always smiling, and when she smiled even though her external features were not as Satine's were, there was still something there.  
  
It was something about the way her mouth curved up at the ends,  
  
Something about the way the light sparkled in her eyes.  
  
Something about the way she looked tonight,  
  
It took his breath away.  
  
He could write a song about this!  
  
Or, no, wait something along those lines had already been written.  
  
When she smiled he felt like he was with Satine again and that everything was going to be fine just as she said.  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Any of the characters or anything featured in the movie Moulin Rouge, I do own Lily, Bernard, and the antique store and it's nameless owner. Oh yeah and I don't own the song "The way you look tonight".  
  
Author's Question: This sorta seems like a good place to end this story. I don't really want to though. What do you guys think? Do you want to know more about Lily? What was in the letter Harold Zidler gave Christian? About Lily's real father and who he was to Satine? But I dunno coz I'm stuck for where I'm going to end it after this I'm open to suggestions. Please tell me! Write it in your reviews or E-mail me! My address is sasquia222@hotmail.com 


	4. The Letter

Author's Note: Okay enough of you readers seem to want to know more so… here goes.

****

The Letter

Christian bent over to give Lily a goodnight kiss; finally the girl was asleep. Boy, was she a bundle of energy! She was always interested in something, it was a good thing she could amuse herself with the toys he had bought her otherwise he didn't know if he would be able to keep up. He smiled it was going to be all right.

In the past few days Christian's situation had changed dramatically and now he had a daughter to look after. Christian went to sit down at his table; he sighed a contented sigh and began to read the letter Zidler had given him…

Dear Christian,

Thankyou for doing this great favor I asked of you. One day, I sincerely hope to repay you for it. Lily is now in your care and I am somewhere far away. I don't know how long it will be before Marie and I return but I thought it would be helpful to you or your curiosity if I wrote this letter.

Lily's father was a man named Charles M. Geoffrey or Charlie to us. He was a stranger to the Moulin Rouge. He was artist who had come from Arles to join the revolution. Marie said he had inherited a large sum of money from a distant relative, great aunt or something. He loved Satine or at least he thought he did. He was always lavishing her with expensive gifts, precious jewels, paintings and books from all over Europe. But Satine did not love him in return she was a good actress, she never truly loved anyone until she met you. He came one night and proposed to her, she said no, he left in a violent rage and never returned.

The night Satine was giving birth to Lily she was in so much pain. She told me she didn't want to have a baby. She asked me if I would make her quit the Moulin Rouge. She was distressed Christian. She gave birth to Lily and then passed out. It was then I made the decision to fake the baby's death, Satine had clearly said she didn't want her and… well I made a mistake.

When she awoke I told her I was sorry but the baby had died. It seemed to take awhile for that to sink in. She assured me that she was relieved but sometimes it was hard to know with Satine. She always put on a brave face in front of me. She was never the same after that, she was more fragile. I regretted doing it, I really did, but what could I say to her a week or even years later?

"Oh by the way, Satine you know the baby you had she's living with China Doll, Marie is secretly looking after her"

No, I couldn't bring myself to doing it Christian.

When I found out Satine was dying, I knew I had to tell her. The night she was going to run away with you. I told her. She hated me that night, in an hour she learned she was dying and that she had to send you away. I knew I had to tell her then because if I didn't,

I might have never had another chance. She was so sad, and it hurt my heart to see her. When I brought Lily in to her she recognized her immediately as the child of Charles,

She was so mad at me but so happy to see Lily, who was three at the time.

Later, from her diaries I found out that that was the reason she stayed, it was the reason she tried to send you away. Satine was planning to take Lily and run away to find you after opening night. She wanted you both to be safe, and to spend the rest of her days living as a family with the two people she loved most.

It is an unfortunate thing to have it all turn out like this; there's no denying it.

Christian there is no one Satine would have wanted more, to be the father of her daughter. I wish you good luck and many thanks. The show must go on!

Harold Zidler

Christian put the letter down onto the table and rubbed his eyes, it was late.

Silly old Harold and his shows. It had always been imprinted on his brain that "the show was the most important thing" or "the show must go on", if it hadn't been for him Satine would've got to spend more time with Lily and quit the stupid Moulin Rouge ages ago! If she had done that she would never of had to deal with the Duke or the can-can dancers or Zidler, or him…

If Zidler had not done what he did, mistake as it was, Christian probably would never have met Satine.

Christian rubbed his eyes again.

So that was the story, that was what happened.

Christian lay himself down on the couch, it was very uncomfortable.

He sighed; it was time to move to a new apartment.

It was time to move on.

It was time to leave Montmatre, and the Moulin Rouge behind,

Forever.

The end.

Disclaimer: I don't own Christian or Zidler or anything in the story that is part of or from the movie MOULIN ROUGE, I do own Lily and her father Charlie/Charles M. Geoffrey.

Author's note: I hope you liked my story, sadly this is the end. I really enjoyed writing it. I love Moulin Rouge sooooooooo much, fanfiction rules!

Bye for now!

Diamonte-saber


End file.
